KUPANG (IO) -- Human right activist Sarah Lery Mboeik called on fellow
leaders of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) not to use a charity
approach to help East Timor refugees as such moves would only disadvantage
the refugees.

Lery, who is last year's winner of the Yap Thian Hien human rights
award, called on such organizations to provide advice and information to
the refugees instead of handouts.

"We have to make the refugees aware of their rights. The refugees
must be aware of their future. We cannot only provide charity," Lery
told the Observer recently. Thus far, more than 160,000 East Timorese
refugees have returned to their hometowns in East Timor. The return of
most of the refugees is organized by the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR), while others have retuned unaided. The Indonesian
government has estimated that the number of East Timor refugees who still
live in camps stands at nearly 125,000.

Lery, who is director of the Center for Information and People's
Advocacy (PIAR), suggested that each non-governmental organization visit
the refugee camps and identify the desires of the refugees.

She lamented that the emergence of some non-governmental organizations
in West Timor (NTT) has been prompted merely by an attempt to earn money
from the funding agency, rather than by ways to encourage people to retain
their confidence and optimism.

She said most of the refugees had told her that they want to return to
East Timor rather than stay in West Timor. Lery said the refugees want to
go home but they are still afraid of the unstble situation in East Timor.

She added that the charity approach would only disadvantage the
refugees because it creates refugee dependence on the donor.

"The refugees will always depend on the charity of the donor. They
must be given information so that they can plan their future as early as
possible," she said. Information officer with the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Nusya Margono confirmed the number of
refugees that have returned to East Timor has reached nearly 160,000.

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